Transition Properties

Another fundamental building block of a state-and-transition model is the Transition. The following Properties let you create and configure the basic types and groups required for Transitions.

Transition Type

Some Scenario Properties can be configured with a Transtion Type to distinguish one kind of Transition event from another. You can use the Transition Type Property to define these types.

At a minimum, each Transition Type must have a Name. However, the following additional columns are available from the right-click Context Menu.

Item	Description
ID	The ID written to raster files for the Transition Type when running a spatially explicit simulation.
Color	The legend color for the Transition Type when displaying Spatial Maps. Double click in a cell to open the color editor and choose a color.
Map Legend	The map legend for the Transition Type when displaying Spatial Maps.
Description	A description of the Transition Type.

Transition Group

Other Scenario Properties can be configured with a Transition Group.

For these Properties, each Transition Type in their Transition Groups will be considered during a model run. For example, imagine a Transition Group called "All Fire" which contains the Transition Types:

• Replacement Fire
• Mixed Fire
• Surface Fire

During a model run, each of these types would be considered for each Transition event.

At a minimum, each Transition Group must have a Name, but a Description column is also available from the Context Menu.

Transition Types by Group

Transition Groups, however, are not useful unless they contain at least one Transition Type. The Transition Types by Group Property lets you assign Transition Types into an unlimited number of Transition Groups. The Transition Types within a Transition Group are still simulated independently at runtime, but the summed effect of the Transition Types can now be aggregated in charts and maps. In addition, certain scenario properties such as Transition Multipliers can be applied to all Transition Types belonging to a specific Transition Group.

Important

When you create a new Transition Type it will automatically be assigned to a hidden Transition Group so there is no need to explicitly make this assignment.

Transition Simulation Groups

Unless Transition Simulation Groups are defined, each individual Transition Type is simulated independently at runtime. If defined, Transition Types belonging to the same Transition Simulation Group will be interdependent. For example, in spatial simulations Transition events are created for the Transition Groups listed under Transition Simulation Groups. For instance, imagine a Transition Simulation Group called "All Fire" which contains the Transition Types:

• Replacement Fire
• Mixed Fire
• Surface Fire

Each cell in the landscape can at most experience a single one of these transition types for each timestep and when simulating a model spatially, transition events will consist of a mosaic of these Transition Types. The probability of the Transition Simulation Group (e.g., probability of having any fire) is the summed probability of each Transition Type within the Transition Simulation Group.

Note

It is recommended that each Transition Type belong to only one Transition Simulation Group. Otherwise, simulations for a Transition Type are run repeatedly for the same iteration, and the probability of that Transition Type is multiplied by the number of Transition Simulation Groups it belongs to.

Transition Multipliers Type

Transition Multiplier Type is an optional definition that can be used to distinguish one multiplier from another. For example, the Transition Multipliers Property lets you specify a Transition Multiplier Type.